One of the many movies from the Shaw Brothers focuses on a swordsman who becomes a sort of Robin Hood character. Like most martial arts movies, "You xia er" ("The Wandering Swordsman" in English) is an excuse to show off all sorts of moves and stunts, and boy do they! If you can picture one, chances are that they've got it here. Apparently, the movie's genre is called wuxia, meaning martial heroes. No shortage of heroics here. A lot of the stuff here looks as if it may have inspired "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Good times all around.

In addition to main cast members David Chiang and Lily Li, the movie features an early appearance of Bolo Yeung, more recognizable to US audiences as Bolo in "Enter the Dragon".

THE WANDERING SWORDSMAN is one of the lesser films in the career of Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh, but it's still worthwhile thanks to a winning performance from the intensely likeable David Chiang. Chiang plays the titular character, a kind of rural Robin Hood hero who spends his time killing robbers and sharing out their stolen wealth with poor and deserving villagers. When he's enmeshed in a sinister plot and outwitted by a huge gang of robbers, he must turn the tables and play them at their own game. There's a lot of wirework-assisted action involving Chiang's nimble hero who leaps and bounds all over the place and plenty of action, although it's not quite as gory or expertly-choreographed as in other Chang Cheh films (this can't hold a candle to VENGEANCE, for example). The supporting cast includes a briefly utilised Lily Li as a potential love interest, the great Cheng Lei as the security chief, Wu Ma (who assistant directed), Chen Sing, and Bolo Yeung in his very first film appearance.

"Wandering Swordsman" David Chiang soundlessly somersaults in slow motion as he shadows a pair of thieves known as "the Flying Robbers," who are planning a robbery. He follows them to a tavern, where he casually tells the proprietor that "today is a bad day for thieving." The Robbers overhear him, but ultimately ignore his words of wisdom. He lays for one of them in the forest, takes the stolen gold from him, and gives it to a band of refugees whose village has been taken out on the tide. His largesse comes back to bite him when he has to sell off his short swords to pay for a meal at a tavern. The buyer, Jung (or "Chung," according to the cast list here), played by Chen Hsing, rides off. Chiang, penniless, contemplates following on foot, but comes across a trio of abandoned horses and ventures into the nearby woods out of curiosity. There, he witnesses the murder of Miss Jiang Ning's bodyguard by the robber swordsman, Jin Li Loi, "the single-bladed swordsman." Chiang intervenes on her behalf and Jin wisely moves on. After a brief, flirtatious encounter with Miss Jiang, Chiang himself moves on, using the dead bodyguard's horse to hunt for Jung. THE WANDERING SWORDSMAN is chock full of well-drawn characters played by solid performers (Yang Sze even pops up at one point as a henchman), and all move through a well-conceived story, guided by a topnotch director. The wonky wirework is minimal and serves the same purpose as the transporter effects on STAR TREK: it shorthands some of the action and allows the story to move just a bit faster at times. Martial Arts Movie Loyalists (MAMLs) will appreciate this one.